My Hero

Chapter 7

"This is not just all in your head,
Mind over matter makes these things feel so real."

Gotham City
September 12 03:45 EDT

Then...

Barbara woke with a start. Her hands shook, as sweat caked her body. She panted slightly, afraid if she stopped, her heart would too.

She blinked, glancing around the room she stayed in Wayne manor.

She breathed in, trying to calm herself.

A knock at her door made her turn. Her mentor walked in. He would be the only one able to hear her screams at night. It had happened for several nights prior. Every single one, a battle between reality and fiction.

"Barbara?" Her mentor asked slightly to gain her attention.

"The fear gas..." She merely said. And instantly Bruce nodded and left to gather some things.

When he returned, he had a syringe in hand. "Scarecrow's fear gas isn't as strong as the one I produced to test on you. So, if you get through it without a hitch, you can become immune to his."

Barbara nodded, remembering the hours of conversation they had a few days prior. She held out her arm.

Bruce placed the syringe down, "But that doesn't mean, I don't care about your safety Barbara. You had another glitch with it, didn't you."

Barbara turned her head away from him. "It's still the same. Everyone dies, except me." She said.

Bruce sighed, "Maybe we should stop the testing."

Her head whipped around, her eyes wide, "No."

Bruce was startled at her response, "Too much can kill you Barbara."

"It doesn't matter, you chose me for this because of how I'm able to remember so well. How I have eidetic  memory." She said, her eyes dared him to stop. To stop the testing, and let his own children, in way, become lost in that fear gas.

Bruce sighed, "Okay, I'll give you the serum, you know what happens next."

She nodded, "Yes." She laid back down and waiting for the piercing stinging on her arm, before closing her eyes again.

She felt the serum course through her body. It was comforting in a way, the familiar feeling of it made her nearly at ease. That was if she didn't hear the shrill scream that came from Jason's own lips.

Her eyes snapped open at an instant. She turned to see Jason strapped to a chair. His Robin costume was torn in several places, his face bloody and his hair hung lowly.

'Oh god.' She wanted to leave, she didn't want to watch this. She knew exactly what would happen.

A creaking door made her turn, the clicking sounds of shoes echoed in the empty room.

"Hello Boy Blunder." A cackling laugh filled the air. A sense of dread eased its way into Barbara's body. She wanted to scream, but like always she was only a Spector, watching everything, yet unable to do anything.